Tim went off to make the tea and the crow flew up to sit behind Ace.The cat stayed where she was, curled up and asleep on the couch.

“Nice bird,” said the man.

“He can be, but he has his moments.”

“I wanna work for you.Name’s Leo.”

“What happened.”

“After you saved the Queen, they went to the warehouse and killed a lot of Off Worlders.I don’t like that.It’s not right.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Ace, trying to control her rage.“Where’s the warehouse?”

“It’s empty now.They moved but I don’t know where they went.I just know I want out.”

“Do you know Joseph and Ian?”

“Yeah, we worked together before.”

“Good.Is there anything you can tell me that will help me stop Benny and his men?”

“They just got a shipment of Off World weapons delivered.I don’t know how any of it works. I never saw anything like them before.”

“Do you know where they are keeping the weapons?”

“No, they took everything when they cleaned out the warehouse.”

Tim handed Leo a mug of hot tea.

“Thank you,” he said, inhaling the steam.

“They’ll come after you,” said Ace.

Leo nodded and blew on his tea.“I’ve done some bad things in my day, but nothing like this.I don’t go along with killing innocents.”

“You’re hired,” said Ace.

“I am?” said Leo, surprised.

“You are.Tim will give you the address of someplace safe to stay and I’ll be in touch,” said Ace, standing, shaking his hand.I have to leave now, but please stay and enjoy your tea.There are cookies in the kitchen.